Hot, hot, hot: Australia's future extreme temperatures

In recent years, Australia has experienced unprecedented heat, including heatwaves and record-breaking hot days, months, seasons and years. Australia has a naturally variable climate, but recent attribution studies show that our recent extremes are already being influenced by climate change. In this presentation, Dr Sophie Lewis will discuss these human influences on past, present and future extreme climate events in Australia. Are our recent extremes a sign of a new normal and how bad could it get?

She has a particular research focus on recent extreme rainfall and temperature events in Australia. Her work also involves proxy-model comparisons to understand natural and anthropogenic influence on climate. Sophie is currently involved in research projects that aim to understand current rainfall extremes in a long-term context. Her research uses climate models, observations and palaeoclimate records to provide a long-term perspective on recent climate change.